Updating To iOS 9

I updated my iPhone 6 to iOS 9 last night (9/24) and to iOS 9.01 this morning. I am using the Straight Talk ATT network and I have not had any problems with Straight Talk and iOS 9. My cellular data works and did not dramatically slow down. I can still send and receive MMS picture messages. In the past, these are the common problems that happen with updates so I was glad to have a hassle free update.

I just returned from a trip to China so I waited until I was back to update as I didn’t want any problems with my phone while abroad. I wouldn’t have been able to test Straight Talk anyway as Straight Talk is not available outside the US.

Note, this is just my experience with Straight Talk’s ATT network on my iPhone 6. I’ll update my wife’s iPhone 5s, also on Straight Talk’s ATT network, this week if she is ready for it. You may have a different experience than I did, depending on which iPhone model and Straight Talk network you are using. I encourage readers to read the comments below to see other readers’ experiences with the update.

I haven’t heard of any issues with iOS 9. I don’t have access to any iPhones using the Straight Talk TMobile, Verizon, or Sprint networks so I can’t speak to any issues there.

If you are using the Straight Talk TMobile or Verizon network, and you have updated, I’d love to hear about your experience. Just leave a reply below.

I do have a concern with the Straight Talk TMobile network however. I inserted a regular TMobile SIM into my phone and noticed that the Cellular Data Network page in Settings is now hidden. The SIM was inactive, so I couldn’t test it. I’ll have to try this with a Straight Talk TMobile SIM to see if Cellular Data Network is hidden. If it is, that means that if the iPhone does not automatically set the APN settings for the Straight Talk TMobile SIM, like it does for the Straight Talk ATT SIM, then customers are going to have trouble getting their cellular data and MMS picture messages working.

If your interested in the details of my upgrade, keep reading, but its not necessary.

Before I updated to iOS 9, I turned off my Wifi and ran the SpeedTest app to measure the speeds of my cellular data network connection. The exactly numbers don’t really matter, We just want to make sure that the speeds didn’t dramatically drop off. In the past, some readers experienced really slow data after updates. Slow as in .25 Mbps up / down speeds, almost as if Straight Talk was throttling their speeds. Below is a screen shot of my results.

If you are not familiar with SpeedTest, I recommend you check out Using SpeedTest to Measure Your Internet Speed

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There are a lot of results listed here. The results from 6:25pm and 6:26pm were before updating. The results from 6:58pm, 6:59pm, 7:01pm, 7:03pm, and 7:04pm were after updating. I ran five tests because I noticed the upload speed was kind of slow. So I reset my iPhone (by pressing and holding the home and lock buttons) and ran two more tests enough to convince myself it wasn’t the update causing the slow speeds. The Sept 24 tests at 9:45 am and 9:47 am were after updating to iOS 9.01. I didn’t bother running tests beforehand, and while the reported speeds are slower they are pretty much consistent with the ATT network at my house at that time of the morning so I am not to concerned.

I also made sure I could both send and receive MMS picture messages. I used my Nexus 6 phone which is on the Google Project Fi Network, essentially TMobile. When you test MMS, you want to make sure you exchange pictures with a someone not using an iPhone. You want to make sure you are testing MMS, and not iMessage, which uses your internet connection to exchange messages. If you are unfamiliar with the difference between iMessage and MMS, see Understanding the Difference between MMS and iMessage on Your iPhone

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I won’t be updating to iOS 9 until next week. I’m in China this week, and while I could install iOS 9 here, I won’t be able to test it with Straight Talk until next week anyway, so I’ll wait until I return to the US.

The last few iOS updates have been pretty smooth for Straight Talk and Net10 users so I don’t expect a problem.

So what about you, have you updated yet? Or are you going to wait and see? Leave a reply below and share.

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